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SK Wyverns
SK Wyverns Baseball Club (에스케이 와이번스 야구단) is a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 2000. Based in Incheon, they play their home games at Munhak Baseball Stadium. Their current manager is Man Soo Lee (이만수). History The first team to represent Incheon was founded in the inaugural KBO season in 1982, and were known as the Sammi Superstars. The team was unsuccessful, winning just 15 games out of 80 in their first season. They changed ownership in 1985 and were known as the Cheongbo Pintos. This new incarnation lasted only two seasons and became the Taepyeongyang Dolphins in 1988. In 1995, the powerful conglomerate, Hyundai, bought the outfit and re-named them the Hyundai Unicorns. With more potent financial backing, they finally brought the first Korean Series to Incheon in 1998. In the 2000 season, the Ssang Bang Wool Raiders, a team that had previously represented the Jeollabuk-do region, was dissolved because of the bankruptcy of the Ssang Bang Wool Group, the teams owner, and its franchise was fortified by KBO. Then the KBO awarded a new franchise to the SK conglomerate. The name of the new franchise was determines to be the SK Wyverns. So the Raiders and the Wyverns has no historical links although the former Raiders players mostly consisted of the new team. Therefore, no historical records of the Raiders were succeeded to the Wyverns. The Unicorns moved out of Incheon to go to Suwon, and the SK Wyverns filled the void left in Incheon. Their first Korean Series appearance came in 2003, where somewhat ironically, they were defeated by the Hyundai Unicorns in seven games. In 2007, SK defeated the Doosan Bears in six games to win the 2007 Korean Series - the first time the franchise had won the Korean Series - after finishing the league in first place. They became the first team in Korean Series history to win after losing the first two games. Designated Hitter Kim Jae-hyun was the series MVP. SK went on to compete in the Konami Cup, a short competition between the champions of the Korean Baseball League, the Japanese Baseball League, the Taiwanese Baseball League, and the China All-Stars. On November 8, 2007, SK Wyverns managed to defeat the Chunichi Dragons (6-3), giving them their first ever loss in Konami Cup history. On November 9, 2007, they soundly defeated the China All-Stars (13-0), causing the game to be called in the 7th inning, due to the 'Mercy Rule'. On November 10, 2007, they repeated their performance, defeating the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of Taiwan (13-1) in 7 innings. The final game, on November 11, 2007, was a rematch of the first game, between Chunichi Dragons and SK Wyverns. In an extremely close game, Chunichi managed to win the game, 6-5. SK went to the Korean Series again in 2008, once again facing their main rivals, Doosan Bears. In a repeat of 2007, SK defeated Doosan to become 2 time Korean Series Champions. 21 year old 3rd baseman Choi Jeong was named the series MVP. SK once again went on to compete in the Konami Cup. On November 13, 2008, SK Wyverns managed to defeat the Seibu Lions (4-3), marking the second straight year in which the Korean champions handed the Japanese champions a loss in this competition. On November 14, 2008, they once again defeated the Chinese representatives, Tianjin Lions, in a "mercy-rule" shortened game. On November 15, 2008, they were soundly defeated in a rematch with Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of Taiwan (10-4) and failed to qualify for the championship game for a second straight year. In 2009, however, SK were runners-up in the 2009 KBO season and 2009 Korean Series, where they were defeated by the KIA Tigers in 7 games. The Wyverns also had a 23 game winning streak that ended in April 2010. This is the longest winning streak in Korean Baseball, and the second longest in the world, after the New York Giants. Season by season records 2014 SK Wyverns Roster |} Roster updated 2013-11-18 External links * SK Wyverns *